Two Critics. Two Perspectives. One Year in Movies.
By Tim Gordon and Charles Kirkland, Jr.
Every year, cinema gives us more than stories. It gives us signals. Signals about where we are, what we fear, what we hope for, and how we choose to see ourselves reflected on screen. In 2025, movies didn’t merely entertain. They challenged assumptions, blurred genres, interrogated power, and reminded us why the communal experience of watching a film still matters.
At TheFilmGordon, year-end lists aren’t about consensus or crown-passing. They’re about perspective. They are personal, shaped by memory, experience, and the moments that linger long after the screen goes dark. This year, we’re presenting two Top 20 lists side by side, not to declare a winner, but to illuminate how cinema lands differently depending on what you value when you sit in the dark.
Tim Gordon approaches film through authorship, intention, and emotional residue. His list reflects a deep respect for craft and risk, for films that feel unmistakably made rather than manufactured. These are works that demand attention, reward patience, and reveal themselves in layers. They are films that stayed with him not because they shouted the loudest, but because they spoke the clearest.
Charles Kirkland Jr. comes to cinema through experience. Rewatchability. Feeling. His list is driven by the films that wouldn’t let him walk away. Movies he paid to see again. Movies he needed to share with family and friends because something about them hit too hard, landed too close, or sparked something unforgettable. These are films defined not just by excellence, but by impact.
Together, these lists tell a richer story about 2025. They reveal a year where original voices took bold swings, where genre became a tool for personal expression, and where conversations about legacy, identity, power, and humanity unfolded across screens big and small. It was a year where a horror film could be poetic, a documentary could feel urgent, and spectacle could still be grounded in emotion.
You’ll notice overlap at the top. That’s not coincidence. It’s alignment. But from there, the divergence becomes the point. One list leans into structure and authorship. The other leans into memory and sensation. Both are valid. Both are necessary.
Cinema thrives in that space between perspectives.
What follows are two Top 20 lists from two critics who watched the same year unfold and came away with different, but equally passionate, truths about what mattered most. Read them side by side. Compare. Debate. Revisit.
That conversation is the point.
Tim Gordon’s Top 20 Movies of 2025
1. Sinners
Ryan Coogler takes one of Hollywood’s riskiest bets with an original IP and turns it into a triumph. Blending blues mythology, mysticism, and vampirism, the film delivers the most electrifying sequence of the year. With only his fifth feature, Coogler cements Sinners as an instant classic and the defining film of 2025.
2. One Battle After Another
Anchored by electrifying ensemble performances, Paul Thomas Anderson’s trippy revolution epic fuses political unrest, obsession, and dark humor into controlled chaos. It’s provocative, disorienting, and unmistakably authored.
3. Hamnet
After a momentary hiccup with Eternals, Chloé Zhao returns with an exquisitely rendered meditation on grief and artistic legacy. Quiet, patient, and emotionally devastating in its restraint.
4. Marty Supreme
Timothée Chalamet is electric, playing a truly horrible character with disarming charm and charisma. The film embraces swagger while offering a sharp, uncomfortable study of obsession and ambition.
5. Sentimental Value
Led by a performance of muted power from Stellan Skarsgård, this quietly devastating portrait of family and regret finds its emotional weight in what remains unsaid.
6. Sly Lives (The Burden of Black Genius)
Questlove’s deeply personal look at Sly Stone interrogates brilliance, expectation, and survival. More than a biography, it’s a cultural reckoning and one of the year’s most essential films.
7. Nuremberg
Russell Crowe and Rami Malek square off in a disciplined psychological drama rooted in true events. The film trusts dialogue and moral inquiry, recalling a time when ideas drove cinematic tension.
8. Train Dreams
Powered by Joel Edgerton’s quiet, dignified performance, this poetic meditation on labor and loneliness unfolds with patience and grace, lingering long after it ends.
9. Weapons
Alongside Sinners, one of the year’s signature horror films. Zach Cregger’s unsettling hit builds dread through implication and absence, leaving audiences deeply shaken.
10. Rental Family
Sweet, intimate, and deeply humane. Brendan Fraser delivers another soulful performance under Hikari’s sensitive direction, redefining ideas of connection and healing.
11. F1
Brad Pitt and Damson Idris bring physicality and emotional grounding to this propulsive racing drama that understands speed as storytelling.
12. Scarlet
Anchored by gorgeous visual work from Mamoru Hosoda, this romantic fantasy prioritizes feeling over exposition, using imagery as emotional language.
13. Frankenstein
Guillermo del Toro grounds a familiar myth in longing and vulnerability. Anchored by Jacob Elordi, this is a monster story rich in empathy.
14. A House of Dynamite
Kathryn Bigelow returns with urgency and precision, crafting an ensemble-driven film about power, consequence, and institutional inertia.
15. The Ugly Stepsister
A Sundance surprise that reframes a familiar tale with wit, visual confidence, and thematic bite.
16. Billy Joel: So It Goes
A music documentary that favors insight over reverence, presenting its subject as a working artist shaped by time and contradiction.
17. Jay Kelly
Quiet, reflective, and conversation-driven. George Clooney and Adam Sandler deliver thoughtful performances in a film about reckoning and self-assessment.
18. Number One on the Call Sheet
A revealing exploration of Black excellence in Hollywood, helmed by Reginald Hudlin and Shola Lynch, balancing celebration with critique.
19. Superman
James Gunn reintroduces the icon with optimism and mythic scale. While intimacy sometimes eludes it, the ambition is undeniable.
20. John Candy: I Like Me
A heartfelt, affectionate tribute to a beloved figure, honoring generosity and humanity over mythmaking.
Charles Kirkland Jr.’s Top 20 Movies of 2025
By Charles Kirkland Jr.
1. Sinners
I saw this film four times in theaters, and each time it hit harder. The integration of sound and image is breathtaking. Ryan Coogler officially enters auteur territory with one of the most creative and fearless films of the year.
2. One Battle After Another
The first Paul Thomas Anderson film that truly resonated with me beyond admiration. Zany, smart, and powered by incredible performances from DiCaprio, Teyana Taylor, Benicio Del Toro, and a menacing Sean Penn.
3. Sentimental Value
A heartbreaking and beautiful story about a father trying to reconnect with his daughters. A film that made me reflect on legacy, loss, and another title further down this list.
4. Frankenstein
Guillermo del Toro’s passion project delivers a faithful, emotionally overwhelming adaptation of Mary Shelley’s novel. When the monster speaks his truth, it’s devastating.
5. Rental Family
Arriving at just the right time, this gentle film showcases Brendan Fraser’s empathy and warmth, redefining what emotional healing can look like.
6. Marty Supreme
Timothée Chalamet is unforgettable as a driven, infuriating table tennis phenom. His performance alone makes this film essential viewing.
7. Is This Thing On?
A familiar and engaging look at stand-up comedy and relationships in crisis, capturing the open-mic experience with honesty and heart.
8. Hamnet
Chloé Zhao’s profound return to intimate filmmaking. Strange, emotional, and beautifully observed.
9. F1: The Movie
Racing movies are my jam. Add Brad Pitt and Damson Idris, and I’m all in.
10. Weapons
Zach Cregger follows Barbarian with an unconventional horror story about parental fear taken to terrifying extremes.
11. It Was Just an Accident
Panahi balances retribution, forgiveness, and political commentary in a film that literally cost him his freedom.
12. Jay Kelly
A second viewing unlocked its emotional depth. George Clooney feels almost autobiographical in this reflection on success and regret.
13. Sarah’s Oil
A Hidden Figures–style true story that reframes American history. Naya-Desir Johnson is phenomenal.
14. A House of Dynamite
Kathryn Bigelow delivers urgency and impact, crafting a story that resonated far beyond the screen.
15. Bugonia
Yorgos Lanthimos and Emma Stone reunite for a wild, unsettling thriller that refuses convention.
16. Nuremberg
A talky, intelligent drama that recalls when ideas drove cinema.
17. Black Bag
Steven Soderbergh’s cool, twisty spy thriller anchored by Fassbender and Blanchett.
18. Good Fortune
Keanu Reeves shines as an angel meddling in human affairs with unexpected consequences.
19. Zootopia 2
A fun, action-packed sequel that expands its world while keeping its inclusive heart.
20. Chainsaw Man: The Reze Arc
A delightful surprise. Bold, hilarious, and unforgettable.
